(TDB) - English wine producers are on course to produce their best and biggest vintage ever, following an extended period of hot, dry weather in the UK.

With unusually warm and sunny conditions across the UK throughout June and early July – which are set to continue for at least another week – English wine growers are excited by the prospects for the 2018 vintage, with some predicting that it could be the country’s greatest harvest ever.

Speaking to the drinks business on Wednesday this week, Stephen Skelton MW, consultant viticulturist for a number of English wine producers, said that the start to the growing season has been unprecedented in terms of quality.

“It’s the best I’ve ever known it… the size of the flowers was very good so we will have big bunches and an early harvest, maybe up to two weeks early for some varieties, and disease pressure is very low at the moment,” he said.

Continuing, he observed, “So a lot of boxes have been ticked this year already; it should be exceptionally good volume- and quality-wise.”

When asked to compare the conditions so far to previous vintages, he said that 2018’s harvest could be like 2006 in terms of yield, which was the English wine industry’s highest on record, and in terms of quality, it could be like recent great vintages 2009 and 2014, “if not higher – it could be the best year we’ve ever had